spg993tt

dont ask. one in car lasted, well, 4 turns. ugh. waste of a testing day. didnt have a spare. matt had some great ideas, figured id ask up herei f anyone has or knows of a great replacement.
and love to hear ideas on whether should rebuild that busted one, who to send it to who can do it quickly, etc?

mmuller

Sorry to hear that Steve. Not a great first experience.

My understanding is that these are not tremendously serviceable trans and as a result there exists limited spares for them. I have one spare however that is supposed to be fixable so is destined for another car I am building (once it's fixed). Would be interested to hear what you learn from yours if its rebuilt.

Not sure if you run a trans cooler in your car or not, and given it failed on the 4th corner it certainly wasn't hot. It might be an influencer on longevity however. To me, every little thing helps and if we are allowed by the rules, then why not.

Hope you get it solved quickly.

CTS

I can fix your broken one unless the ring and pinion or some other major part failed. It won't be cost effective if so.

There does not appear to be a good supply of used transmissions available in wrecking yards.

Chris Cervelli
Cervelli Technical Service

jdistefa

Steve,

Working on a trans for you, should have an answer by tomorrow. Strongly recommend Chris to fix your current one.

Like Matt Muller mentioned, a spare is a good idea. We just rotate back and forth as one inevitably breaks, sticks, stinks. It is the weak link in these cars.

The common denominator is the 3rd gear which fails most frequently. Otherwise sticky/worn synchros and shift selector rods are common problems. I would change the transmission fluid frequently and generally expect to have failure(s) at some point in time. Unless you drive in Texas or California I think the jury is out on running a cooler. Won't hurt but adds cost and weight. IMHO shift abuse, infrequent fluid changes, and good old age/wear are the usual culprits.

C4 Pazzo

If you haven't confirmed the failure mode, check the shift selector pins (which can easily be done with the transmission in the car and in 3rd gear). These tend to back out and break, making gear selection difficult or impossible. I think you need a 60 mm (maybe 55 mm) torx bit, Replacement pins are less than $20.

mmuller

Stop using 3rd gear. You will go faster in the corners.

I change my trans fluid after every, weekend and have owned the car almost since its first race. I had an issue at RA this year with shifting into third when coming from 4th mostly. It ended up being the pin in the back of the trans backing out. Lesson learned.

I tend to agree with you Matt on the cooler and my car is certainly over weight by some. (2648 at WGI). But I decided to run a science experiment since it was kinda new to begin with. Time will tell if the weight is worth it.

The other TunRS built car running in the northeast had shifting issues at LRP this year also. I have to admit, I wonder if the type of shift stand in the car also puts strain on the cables. I changed from a flat stand to a tilted stand in my GT3 and noticed that all 3rd gear issues disappeared. Food for thought.

ninjabones

yes, nick had tranny issues at LRP... and it turned out to be the selector pin. Took them an hour to swap it out. Luckily Dawe had a spare as these apparently break all the time. Will definitely add this to my spares list. Apparently, there is an aftermarket one that is more robust, but I have not yet found it.

Also, you may want to give sloan a call at SSI. I believe he may have some spares and can work on your tranny. He's outside Baltimore.

jdistefa

But 3rd is the highest gear in my car!

spg993tt

u guys arent running the 6 gear transmissions???

i remember whe we used to run thsese 5 speed 986 boxes in the 2010, 2011 grand am continental challenge boxsters. i never remember them sucking that bad.
and then, when we converted to 6speed, after all the transmission, axle, etc. changes, the 987s were too tall, not enough torque...if i recall.

sbelles

I've actually had pretty good luck with the e86 transmissions. I only killed one in my old 3.4L 986 in ten years and 50k track miles and I change the fluid annually. With motors I haven't had such good luck but the trans fluid does get changed with the motors now.

Paul 996

I have two SPB transmissions ready to go.

mmuller

That must be a Canadian thing then, to label your 5th gear as 3rd.

That would explain my experience at Mosport last week then, passing GT2's in my GT3 on the back straight. They couldn't find 5th!

jdistefa

^ Canadians, as you know, are pussies. Peace lovin' folk.

mmuller

That be true. And your a brotha from the empire and share my kindred thinking.